The lowdown on FA RHP Noah Syndergaard
Thomas Harrigan
@HarriganMLBAfter leaving the Mets to sign a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels last offseason, Noah Syndergaard -- a.k.a. Thor -- is set to become a free agent again after the conclusion of the 2022 World Series. Limited to just two innings across 2020-21 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, Syndergaard returned to post a 3.94 ERA over 134 2/3 frames for the Angels and Phillies, who acquired the righty at the Trade Deadline.
Here’s what you need to know about Syndergaard:
FAST FACTS
Birthdate: Aug. 29, 1992 (Age 30 in 2023)
Primary position: SP
Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 242 lbs.
Bats/throws: Left/right
Place of birth: Mansfield, Texas
School(s): Legacy (Texas) HS
Drafted: 1st round (38th), 2010, by Blue Jays
MLB debut: May 12, 2015
Qualifying offer: Ineligible to receive one
STAT TO KNOW
Before his elbow injury, Syndergaard could light up the radar gun like few others. From 2015-19 (including playoffs), Syndergaard threw 1,241 pitches at 99 mph or faster, second in MLB only to Aroldis Chapman. He averaged 98.0 mph on sinkers and four-seamers in that span. Syndergaard’s fastest pitch during the 2022 regular season was 96.4 mph, and his two fastballs collectively averaged 93.8 mph. On average, he also threw his slider, changeup and curveball slower than he did in his heyday.
The velocity drop coincided with a sharp decrease in whiff rate and strikeout rate. Syndergaard not only finished 2022 with career lows in both departments, his 20.1% whiff rate and 16.8% strikeout rate were both well below the MLB average.
QUESTION MARK
Syndergaard’s injury history is a major concern. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020, Syndergaard missed considerable time with a partially torn lat muscle in '17 and a strained ligament in his right index finger in '18, making 32 starts combined in those two seasons. Plus, his comeback attempt from elbow surgery didn’t exactly go smoothly, as he dealt with right elbow inflammation during his rehab.
Despite the velocity dip, his sinker-slider mix was effective
Although Syndergaard’s velocity was down across the board in 2022, the two pitches he used the most were actually quite an effective combo. In 308 plate appearances ending either on sinkers or sliders, Syndergaard held opponents to a .229 batting average, a .337 slugging percentage and a .271 wOBA.
It was the rest of his arsenal that was the problem, as he gave up a .308 average, a .494 slugging percentage and a .361 wOBA in 257 PAs ending either on four-seamers, changeups or curveballs.
He’s been lights-out in the postseason
The Mets reached the playoffs in each of Syndergaard’s first two seasons, and the righty was unfazed by the bright lights of October. Syndergaard recorded a 3.32 ERA with 26 K’s over 19 innings in the 2015 postseason as the Mets reached the World Series. His signature performance that year came in Game 3 of the Fall Classic at Citi Field after the Mets lost the first two games to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Syndergaard set the tone on the first pitch of the game with a high and tight fastball to leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar, who had built a reputation for swinging at the first pitch, and went on to toss six innings in a 9-3 Mets victory, their only win of the series.
The following year, Syndergaard started the National League Wild Card Game against the Giants and delivered seven scoreless innings in a no-decision opposite Madison Bumgarner, who fired a complete-game shutout and picked up the win after Conor Gillaspie took Jeurys Familia deep for a three-run homer in the top of the ninth.
Pitching in the playoffs for the first time since that 2016 NL Wild Card Game, Syndergaard started Game 4 of the 2022 NLDS against the Braves and gave the Phillies three innings of one-run ball in the team's clinching victory, then threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Padres to help Philadelphia take a 3-1 series lead.
He’s had some legendary two-way performances
Syndergaard is certainly no Shohei Ohtani, but he had his share of historic combo performances before the universal DH made #PitchersWhoRake obsolete. In 2016, Syndergaard became the second pitcher in Mets history (Walt Terrell in 1983) and the first MLB pitcher overall since the D-backs’ Micah Owings in 2007 to go deep twice in a game. Thor not only slugged a pair of two-run blasts at Dodger Stadium, driving in all of the Mets’ runs in the process, but also fired eight innings of two-run ball in a 4-3 win for New York. Three years later, Syndergaard became the seventh player on record and the first since the Dodgers’ Bob Welch in 1983 to throw a shutout and hit a homer in a 1-0 win.